Grant Hill collected 33 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to
lead the Detroit Pistons to their fourth win in five games,
113-85 over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Jerry Stackhouse added 20 points and eight assists, while former
Clipper Malik Sealy contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds for
Detroit, which has posted consecutive 100-point games for the
first time this season.

"I'm very, very pleased with our defense tonight," said Pistons
coach Doug Collins. "This is a team that (Clippers) can put up a
lot of points, so we didn't want to get seduced into trading
baskets with them. When we get our running game going we can be
really explosive. That's the fun part of basketball, but you can
only do that by doing the dirty work on the other end of the
court."

The Pistons have won the last five meetings with Los Angeles and
matched their biggest win in the series, accomplished in the
last encounter, a 113-85 decision on March 28th. Detroit also
has won the last six matchups at home since a 16-point setback
on March 31st, 1992.

Brent Barry netted 17 points and James Robinson and rookie
Maurice Taylor, a former University of Michigan star, each added
14 for the Clippers, who have dropped three of their last four
games and eight of nine on the road.

Detroit extended a 20-15 lead with 4:19 remaining by closing the
first quarter on a 16-7 run. Hill tallied eight points in the
burst that gave the Pistons a 36-23 advantage. Detroit, which
never trailed in the game, was 17-of-21 from the field in the
period.

"Our defense was really good and that's what created a lot of
our offense," said Hill, who made a career-high 15 field goals.
"It's a lot of fun to be able to run like this. It's nice to be
able to create a 10-foot jump shot in three or four seconds
instead of having to run the shot clock down all the way just to
get that 10-foot jump shot."

The margin was 44-35 midway through the second quarter before
the Pistons closed the half with spurts of 8-2 and 11-4 around a
three-point play by Rodney Rogers to assume a 63-44 lead at the
intermission.

Detroit kept it up by scoring the first four points of the third
period before Barry and Taylor combined for nine points in an
11-0 burst that narrowed the deficit to 67-55 with 7:22 to go.

But the Pistons answered by scoring the next 10 points,
including a putback by Grant Long that upped the lead to 75-55
with 1:59 left. They took a 79-60 cushion into the fourth
quarter and took their largest lead of the game at 103-71 when
Eric Montross got credit for a basket on a goaltending call with
3:50 remaining.

"The outcome wasn't quite what we wanted, but we're a young team
and we'll get better," said Taylor. "The Pistons are a very
versatile ballclub and that versatility gives a lot of teams a
lot of problems. Basketball is a game of spurts. They answered
ours. Both teams made runs. It was just a matter of who made the
most of them and the Pistons did just that."

Ex-Clipper Brian Williams totaled 12 points and seven boards for
Detroit, which finished 22-of-26 from the foul line (85 percent)
and won the rebounding battle, 57-36. Joe Dumars left after six
minutes due to a strained left calf.

Lamond Murray registered 10 points and seven rebounds for Los
Angeles, which shot just 37 percent (30-of-82) from the floor.
Lorenzen Wright returned after missing four games due to a knee
injury and left with a right ankle injury, which required
precautionary X-rays.

"We didn't make good decisions offensively, but their defense
was great and any time that happens, you have to give them
credit," said Clippers coach Bill Fitch. "We've been putting
points on the board and they shut us down. A lot of their
points were due to the forced turnovers and the decisions we
made on offense because of their defense."